WBTW

Teacher, principal resign after gay marriage-themed book read to 3rd graders

EFLAND, N.C. – A teacher and an assistant principal at an Orange County elementary school have resigned after controversy developed because of the reading of a controversial story to third grade students.

Orange County Schools said third-grade teacher Omar Currie and Assistant Principal Meg Goodhand of Efland-Cheeks Elementary submitted their resignations.

Currie resigned June 15 while Goodhand submitted her resignation for June 30, the schools system said.

Currie read “King & King,” a story of two princes who fall in love and get married, in response to a boy in his class being called “gay” and was told he was acting like a girl.

“There was no way I was going to have the support I needed to continue teaching in Orange County,” he said, claiming that school system administrators were hostile to him during a meeting on the topic.

School principal Kiley Brown has said that in the future teachers will notify parents of every book read in the classroom and that parents will be given the choice to opt out of the lesson.

Goodhand would not talk about the situation.

A public hearing about the book will be held June 18 at 6 p.m.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.